People around the world are subject to censorship, geo-blocks, and network throttling as governments attempt to restrict VPN access and clamp down on digital rights.
Windscribe has invested heavily in its infrastructure to stay one step ahead, such as enabling post-quantum encryption, boosting the speed and reach of our server network, and revamping our codestack for maximum uptime.
Now we’re excited to roll out our latest enhancement to our VPN protocol options: Amnezia Wireguard (AmneziaWG). Let’s shed some light on what this means for you and how to set it up to bypass VPN blocks and restrictions for a well-rounded anti-censorship experience.
What is Amnezia WireGuard?
AmneziaWG is an open-source, audited fork of WireGuard, inheriting the architectural simplicity and high performance of the original implementation, while additionally masking the identifiable network signatures that make WireGuard easily detectable by Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) systems.
AmneziaWG affords our customers a better chance of connecting in censored environments whilst also benefitting from WireGuard's key benefits: power efficiency, high performance, reduced attack surface, and cutting-edge cryptography.
AmneziaWG is known to perform particularly well in countries with heavy internet censorship such as Russia, China, Iran, Egypt, and the UAE. It can also be used outside these jurisdictions for individuals looking to bypass VPN blocks and other restrictions that their ISP or government may apply.
What’s more, Windscribe’s use of AmneziaWG supercharges your ability to circumvent restrictive networks like those at your school or office. It can also help you access global streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, HBO, and more.
To the best of our knowledge, Windscribe is the only commercial VPN service besides AmneziaVPN as of date to fully implement AmneziaWG server-side. AmneziaWG 1.5 features are also supported.
Bypass VPN Blocks With Windscribe (Step-by-Step)
AmneziaWG is now built directly into the Windscribe app. No external clients, no config files, no contacting support. Just toggle it on and connect.
Get our latest builds here.
Desktop (Windows / macOS / Linux)
1. Open the Windscribe app.
2. Click the hamburger menu (☰) in the top left.
3. Go to Preferences → Connection.
4. Toggle on Circumvent Censorship.
5. AmneziaWG profile options will appear below the toggle. The default, A - No Junk Primary, works for most users. If it doesn't connect, try the next profile down the list.
6. Make sure your protocol is set to WireGuard.
7. Connect to a server location. If you're in a censored region, try a few different locations.
Mobile (iOS / Android)
1. Open the Windscribe app.
2. Tap the menu (☰) in the top left and go to Preferences → Connection.
3. Enable Circumvent Censorship.
4. Choose an AmneziaWG profile from the options that appear. Start with A - No Junk Primary.
5. Set the connection mode to Manual and select WireGuard as the protocol.
6. Connect to a server location. Try switching locations if one doesn't work.Tip: In some regions, particularly China and Iran, switching the WireGuard port from 443 to 80 can help punch through stubborn firewalls.
For The Geeks
We validated that AmneziaWG's Advanced Security features were being used on the server-side.
With AmneziaWG
Without AmneziaWG
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the Amnezia team for working with our backend developers to implement AmneziaWG on our servers.
Special thanks are due to Vadim Smirnov, the creator of WireSock.
